The Redwood Coast Energy Authority board unanimously approved an agreement Thursday making the agency the host for implementation of Humboldt County’s Regional Climate Action Plan through Dec. 31, 2030.
Under the memorandum of understanding included in RCEA’s board agenda packet, RCEA would coordinate a Regional Climate Committee and establish a staff-level technical advisory committee. The Regional Climate Committee would include the RCEA board plus representatives from the Humboldt Waste Management Authority, Humboldt Transit Authority and Humboldt County Association of Governments.
RCEA staff told the board the agreement will not take effect until jurisdictions representing at least 85% of the region’s population have signed. Staff said Humboldt County, Arcata and Eureka are expected to provide enough population to meet that threshold, although those jurisdictions had not formally adopted the MOU at Thursday’s meeting.
The agreement commits RCEA to provide about $140,000 annually in in-kind staff services, including clerking the committees, executive director time, regional climate planning and outreach work, and customer-program staff support. The MOU also outlines cost sharing for a regional climate program manager, but the meeting record did not specify the final cash amounts each jurisdiction would contribute.
The board’s action followed public comments from representatives of 350 Humboldt and the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, who supported RCEA serving as the host agency and urged coordinated regional climate action. The next steps are for the participating jurisdictions to consider adoption, followed by execution of the MOU and formation of the committees.
